Indie Food is the New Indie Rock
The indie food & drink movement and the indie music community- and their respective fans- are commingling like never before.
New-era indie food & drink makers like Mast Brothers Chocolate, Little Baby’s Ice Cream and Paul Qui share a DIY spirit + aesthetic with indie music and are being elevated to indie rock star status by a type of fandom generally reserved for bands. As a result, a bumper crop of zines, blogs, radio shows and events fashioned after music industry models have been launched around this indie food & drink revolution- many helmed by music industry vets.
The thrill of discovery + sense of ownership experienced by finding a new band now applies to finding a new small batch bourbon, pop-up restaurant, or food truck. And we’re loyally evangelizing small batch food & drink brands the way we once did for indie labels + bands.
Reps from both fields discuss the growing parallels between indie food and music, explore ways to collaborate, + learn from one another.
- How is making, distributing, and marketing an indie food or drink product similar to developing an indie band or artist? What best practices can be applied to both?
- Why are so many music industry folks now involved in food and vice versa?
- Just as punk and alternative were co-opted by corporations, the term “artisanal” and the maker culture is being adopted and used by large brands and corporations. How can indie food and drink makers retain their unique aesthetic, principles, spirit and DIY nature?
- How can the indie food and indie music industries work together to help each other or market to a crowd that shares a similar aesthetic?
- For many, the thrill of discovering a new favorite small batch bourbon is the same as finding a new band or artist that they can’t wait to tell their friends about. What are some discovery tools or methods that work for both industries?
- Tom Monday, founder, Small Batch America / Indie Canteen
- Nils Bernstein , VP Publicity & Artist Relations, Matador Records
- Josh Wittman, owner/founder, Public Works Division, et al
- Rick Mast, Founder/Owner, Mast Brothers Chocolate
Tom Monday, founder, Small Batch America / Indie Canteen
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